A one-stop shop for quick licence

A prompt service delivery revolution may be going on at the Licensing office, Alaka, Surulere, a Lagos Mainland suburb. Drivers seeking to procure licence could obtain same within an hour. No hassles, no network failures, no delays.

In a state where many motorists have loads of frustrating stories to tell, either of touts extorting innocent drivers, or the unsavoury delays that give room for endless extensions of the lifespan on the temporary licence and traffic officers’ harassment for failure to produce the licence on demand, the Surulere centre is a fresh experience.

Many drivers allege that the website from where the forms must be downloaded and filled is difficult to access, giving officers at the licencing office the room to extort them.

But The Nation’s visit to Alaka Office on Thursday was an eye opener, to a centre where the Vehicle Inspection Service (VIS), the Motor Vehicle Administration Agency (MVAA) and the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) work in a seamless bond that ensures that a new prospector walks in without a form and walks out armed with a valid and genuine driving document within the hours without the attendant stress as obtained elsewhere.

The centre, it was learnt, receives no less than 170 requests daily, since it opened in July.

“None of these requests is carried over to the next day. All requests are treated with dispatch and the person goes home with his licence same day, whether new or old,” the head of the office Alhaji Ayodele Sikiru Aduloju said.

Aduloju, a Route Superintendent Commander (RSC) with the FRSC, described the office as a one-stop shop for any matter relating to auto vehicle registration, change of ownership, number plate and licence.

“We have the Motor Vehicle Administration Agency (MVAA), the Vehicle Inspection Service (VIS) and the FRSC which is the sole issuing authority all working together here. We all work hand-in-hand and all the three must give a stamp of approval before any licence is issued.

“We have been able to cope with the demand traffic because the workers go the extra mile to get things done. At times they assist people to fill and download the forms from the FRSC website just to ensure that everyone gets his/her licence before the close of work,” he said.

Aduloju in a lecture, earlier, urged drivers to drive to stay alive. “A good driver must assume that he is the only sane person on the road and avoid other drivers from crashing into his car. A good driver is the one who gets to his destination safely, as accidents is not about who is right but who is left.”

Though accidents, Aduloju continued, are a product of three factors namely environmental, mechanical and human, the human factors are primal and are within the driver’s control. Remove the human factor and the other factors are insignificant.

He said overloading, over speeding, drunk driving, fatigue, using the phone while driving and lack of concentration are few of the vices a good driver must guard against as they are causative agents of crashes on the highways. He added that though high speed trills, it must be jealously avoided by anyone who desires to stay alive.

A driver, Matthew Olaosebikan, said he was surprised that he could get his licence within one hour of getting to the centre. “Infact, what I got here was a shocking surprise to me. I had gone to Alausa from where I was referred here by someone who said he had tried here. I came in here, they helped me download the form and I filled it and went to the bank to pay and within an hour my biometrics was captured and I was presented with my licence. This is wonderful,” he said.

Another, a woman who identified herself as Mrs Ademola, said she came all the way from Iru, in Victoria Island when a friend told her of her experience. She said she is proud of the prompt service from the Surulere Licencing centre.

However, the centre may have established a record of prompt service, she said government should encourage the workers by making the work environment more conducive. She said the lack of parking space is a major issue as many of those who may love to patronise the centre are afraid of coming because of getting their cars towed by traffic officers.

She equally raised an eyebrow on the epileptic power supply which is not helped by the poor state of generating set being used by the centre. “It would be nice if the government replaces the generator the centre is using as this would accelerate the efficiency of the centre,” Mrs Ademola said.

Besides the issuance of licences, other services offered by the office include the procurement of number plates for all manner of vehicles, registration of vehicles change of ownership, vehicle licences and hackney permit charges. Others are driver licences, registration of vehicle/spare parts dealership.